Testi



INVENTOR. 750A. BY

5 M 2 w -S |l ll; W 6 M W X 1 1kg), 4 r .6 T )5 Gun hm Aug. 11, 1959 N.TESTI SPRINGLESS BLADE DISPENSER Filed Feb. 28, 1956 United StatesPatent SPRINGLESS BLADE DISPENSER Nicholas Tesfi, New York, N.Y.,assignor to The Gillette Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation ofDelaware Application February 28, 1956, Serial No. 568,227

6 Claims. (Cl. 221-609) This invention comprises a new and improvedblade dispenser compactly constructed and arranged to house and protectan ample supply of thin sharp edged blades, such as safety razor blades,which may by simple manipulation be withdrawn singly as required by theuser.

It has been found that any chance contact with the fine cutting edge ofa safety razor blade prior to use frequently damages its delicatestructure and impairs its fine cutting quality. It is desirable,therefore, for the manufacturer to provide for packaging of the bladesso as to insure their protection prior to actual use. Accordingly,general objects of the invention are to provide a dispenser which willprotect the quality of the blades it contains, will lend itself toinexpensive assembly in manufacture, will provide safety for the useragainst cutting, and will be attractive and convenient under allconditions.

One of the difficulties heretofore encountered in dispensers of thisgeneral type has been the tendency of the blades to jam in the exitopening of the dispenser. The present invention comprises as one of itsfeatures a solution of this problem. It has been solved by providing ina dispenser the combination of a stripping pin normally in contact withthe top or cover of the dispenser and means for supporting the bladestack so that it may be rocked or tipped within the dispenser to carrythe uppermost blade into a releasing position with respect to the pin.The remaining blades of the stack meanwhile are impaled in stackformation upon the stripper pin thus positively preventing theseparation of more than one blade at a time from the stack. Anotheradvantage arising from the employment of a stripper pin in this manneris that the blades may be packaged in vertical stack formation withoutrelative longitudinal displacement. This arrangement of the bladesfacilitates the employment of a dispenser of minimum length and compactdesign.

In one embodiment the dispenser of my invention comprises a rectangularenclosure open at one end and having top and bottom walls. A strippingpin projects from one of these walls into yielding contact with theother wall, and in the other wall is provided a clearance recess intowhich one end of the uppermost blade of the stack may be tilted orrocked and so withdrawn and disengaged from the stripping pin by passingbeyond it. Meanwhile the perforated blades of the stack remainpositively impaled upon the pin thus insuring delivery of a single bladeat a time and freedom from jamming in the exit opening of the dispenser.

Preferably and as herein shown at least one wall of the dispenser isformed from resilient plastic material and an advantageous mounting ofthe stripper pin is provided by defining or partially cutting out ayieldable tongue from the material of the wall. The stripper pin extendsinwardly from this tongue into yielding contact with the opposite wallof the dispenser in an area adjacent to the clearance recess. Animportant advantage of this construction is that it obviates theemployment of a spring as a separate element of the dispenser andinstead utilizes a section of one wall as a built-in spring.

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The dispenser is also equipped with a transverse fulcrum shoulder overwhich the blade stack contained within it may be rocked or tilted tocarry the uppermost blade of the stack into the clearance recess fromwhich it may be drawn outwardly over the end of the stripper pin.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description of a preferred embodimentthereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the dispenser showing aportion of its upperwall broken away,

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing one of the blades of the stack inpartially ejected position,

Fig. 3 is a view in longitudinal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a view in longitudinal section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

As herein shown the dispenser is designed to handle double edged safetyrazor blades 10 of well known commercial construction. These blades arenotched at each corner, provided with elongated unsharpened endportions, and they are perforated by a longitudinal slot 11 having aseries of spaced enlargements of different shapes, includingdiamond-shaped openings adjacent both ends of the blade.

The dispenser which is shown with exaggerated vertical dimensions inFigs. 3 and 4 in order to bring out more clearly certain constructionaldetails comprises a rectangular enclosure of resilient plastic materialand includes a lower section having a bottom wall 12 in which is defineda rectangular tongue 13 as best shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The tongue isseparated from the body of the bottom wall 12 on three sides by slots,and while it normally occupies the position shown in Fig. 3, it is freeto flex outwardly and resiliently into some such position as that shownin Pig. 4. The tongue is biased to remain normally flush with the planeof the bottom wall 12.

An inwardly and upwardly projecting stripper pin 14 is formed integralwith or otherwise attached to the free inner end of the tongue 13 andthis normally contacts in a yielding manner with the top wall of thedispenser.

Its upper end is beveled or rounded on the rear side of the pin tofacilitate the passage of a blade above it as will be presentlydescribed.

The bottom wall 12 is provided with a stationary inwardly projectingblade guiding rib 15 extending forwardly from adjacent to the free endof the tongue 13 and designed to make sliding fit within the slot 11 ofthe blades. The bottom wall 12 is also provided with a transverselyextended fulcrum shoulder 16 which extends transversely across thebottom 12 on both sides of the rib 15. The rib 15 is beveled toward therear at its upper edge to facilitate the passage of the blade beingwithdrawn.

The upper section of the dispenser has a rear end wall 17 and a solidtop wall 18 and in general is shaped to supplement the bottom section informing the rectangular enclosure and make a snap fit with the bottomsection. It is provided in its inner top surface with a clearance recess19 located vertically above the end of the blade stack and to the rearof the area in which the stripping pin 14 engages the top wall. Theforward end of the enclosure is open and unobstructed and the top wall18, though covering the greater part of the stack, is provided with acut-out 20 in its forward end so that the operator may engage theforward or outer end of the blade stack and by downward pressure rock itupon the fulcrum shoulder 16 sufficiently to carry the rear end of theuppermost blade into the clearance recess 19. The upper wall 18 is alsoprovided with a longitudinal groove 21 in line with and above the rib15.

It will be seen that before the dispenser is closed the blade stack maybe presented to and assembled in the lower section with the bladesimpaled upon the stripper pin 14 and the guide rib 1S, assumingsubstantially the position shown in Fig. 3. The dispenser then may beconveniently closed by merely snapping the upper section into place.

When the user desires to withdraw a single blade, he has only to depressthe outer end of the blade stack as suggested in Fig. 4 and draw theuppermost blade outwardly by surface contact. The rocking or tilting ofthe stack moves the inner end of the uppermost blade into the clearancerecess 19 and when that blade is subjected to forward or outwardtraction, the rear solid end of the blade displaces the stripping pin byprying action as shown'in Fig. 4, passing over it and over the upperedge of the blade-locating rib 15. Meanwhile the remaining blades of thestack are positively retained in position by the stripping pin 14 which,upon removal of the uppermost blade, immediately contacts again with theinner surface of the top wall 18 and so locking the remaining bladessecurely within the dispenser. All the blades of the stack may beindividually removed in the same manner, down to the last remainingsingle 'blade.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail anillustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent:

1. A blade dispenser comprising a rectangular enclosure having a bottomand a solid top wall and being closed at one end and open at the other,a fulcrum shoulder for the blade stack contained within the dispenserprojecting inwardly from the bottom wall near the open end of theenclosure, and a stripping pin resiliently mounted on the bottom wallnear the closed end of the enclosure, beneath and extending intoproximity to the top wall.

2. A blade dispenser comprising a rectangular enclosure open at one end,closed at the other and having a bottom and a solid top wall, atransverse rigid fulcrum shoulder projecting inwardly from the bottomwall near the open end of the enclosure, a stationary blade-locating ribprojecting inwardly and longitudinally of the bottom wall and rearwardlywith respect to the fulcrum shoulder, and a stripping pin resilientlymounted beneath the top wall and between the inner end of said rib andthe closed end of the enclosure.

3. A blade dispenser comprising a rectangular enclo sure of resilientsheet material having a bottom and a solid top wall, a yieldable tonguedefined in the bottom wall and an oppositely located blade-receivingrecess in the top wall, and a stripping pin projecting inwardly from thesaid tongue and normally contacting yieldingly against the top wall inan area adjacent to the recess therein.

4. A blade dispenser comprising a rectangular enclosure of resilientplastic material open at one end and closed at the other and havingopposed top and bottom walls, the bottom wall having a transverse rigidfulcrum shoulder adjacent the open end of the enclosure and a yieldabletongue carrying a stripping pin adjacent to the closed end of theenclosure, and a stationary blade-locating rib disposed between thestripping pin and the fulcrum shoulder, the top wall of the enclosurehaving a blade clearance recess located behind the stripping pin inposition to receive the inner end of a blade in a stack tilted over thefulcrum shoulder.

5. A blade dispenser comprising a rectangular enclosure having top andbottom walls, a stripping pin yieldably mounted in the bottom wall andnormally engaging the top wall, a stack of perforated blades impaled onsaid pin, and a rigid fulcrum shoulder on the bottom wall, the top wallhaving a recess so located as to receive the trailing end of theuppermost blade of the stack when the stack is tilted over the fulcrumshoulder and thereby permit the blade to disengage the stripping pin.

6. A blade dispenser having top and bottom walls, a yieldable strippingpin normally engaged with the top wall at a point adjacent to aclearance recess in the said wall, a stack of perforated blades impaledon the pin, a rigid fulcrum shoulder on the bottom wall whereby theinner end of the blade stack may be rocked to enter the rearward end ofa blade in the recess and the uppermost blade drawn outwardly above thestripping pin, and a fixed guide rib adjacent said fulcrum.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,518,079 Schneider Aug. 8, 1950 2,569,072 Roberts Sept. 25, 19512,574,568 Jolie Nov. 13, 1951

